Monday, June 29, 2009

Lambert Airport sells out! Sigfried Reinhardt, the world renowned St. Louis artist (b.1925 - d.1984) recently had his famous History of Aviation Mural at Lambert Saint Louis Airport covered and boarded-over. Some states like New York have statutes against doctoring and/or removing public commissioned artwork. My guess is that many citizens are in the dark on this as our once proud international airport is currently a joke of an airstrip which might be able get you to Chicago or Baltimore, run by one buffoon after another. Props go out to KTVI 2, who appear to be the only media outlet covering this story....here are some snips:

BRIDGETON, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - The huge "History Of Aviation" mural at Lambert Airport was heralded as a masterpiece when it was finished some 30 years ago. In fact, some critics thought it was the finest work of internationally-known artist Sigfried Reinhardt. Now the folks at Lambert have decided to cover it with plywood.

FOX 2's John Auble caught up with Jim Pegg at the Brewington Gallery in the Central West End where many of his paintings are sold. Pegg recently got off a plane and couldn't help but notice that the mural was being covered by carpenters. "They said, 'Well, why do you want to know?' And, I said, 'Well, because I helped paint that mural," Pegg relates, "One of the guys said that they were going to put some advertising on it."

Friday, June 12, 2009

Pour yourself a drink and take off your clothes; try to hold a pose for about 30 minutes...the best ones can! Why is it that mainstream America still sees nudity as vulgar and comical, even nudes in art?! Today's MSNBC headline report (because I am sure there isn't any better news to dwell on) focused on Leonardo da Vinci and the possibility of a nude painting of Mona Lisa or what might have been a pre-lim sketch of Mona in the nude. This work was recently uncovered in the wall of a library. Their take was: "(Leonardo), in a Renaissance version of Mad Magazine, may have painted his famous Mona Lisa in a number of ways, including nude. Now, a painting has surfaced that looks much like the original, sparking debate over just how far the master took his iconic painting." I guess the reference to Mad magazine was made to dumb-down the artwork of Leonardo so it is on a level that the average American moron can relate! Well, fuck you MSNBC.

The best art model I ever worked with was from Columbia, MO and she could hold a complex pose for about 30 minutes, sometimes 40.

Note: The picture is of a watercolor I executed for the book: 'The Somnambulist Footprints - A Collection of Surrealist Tales'. It has not been publicly viewed and it joins a subset of my work which is not welcome by most gallery owners.